Joe Lieberman

Joe Lieberman is an American politician. A Democrat and later an Independent, he served as the 21st Attorney General of Connecticut, from January 5, 1983 to January 3, 1989, and a United States Senator from Connecticut, between January 3, 1989 and January 3, 2013.

He was the Democratic Party’s nominee for Vice President of the United States in 2000. He was also a candidate for the Democratic Party’s nomination for President of the United States in 2004.

Joe is the son of Marcia (Manger) and Henry Lieberman. His father’s family were Polish Jews and Ukrainian Jews. His mother’s family were Austrian Jews and Hungarian Jews. Joe is an Orthodox Jew. He is married to Hadassah (Freilich) Lieberman, with whom he has a daughter. He also has two children with his former wife, Betty Haas.

Joe Lieberman was the first Jewish person to be nominated for Vice President of the United States on a major party ticket.

Two people of Jewish heritage have been nominated for President of the United States by a major American political party. Barry Goldwater, nominated by the Republican Party in 1964, was the first (Goldwater was born to a Jewish father and a non-Jewish mother, and was raised an Episcopalian). John Kerry, nominated by the Democratic Party in 2004, was the second (Kerry’s paternal grandparents were born Jewish, though Kerry’s father and Kerry himself were raised Catholic).

Joe’s paternal grandfather was Jacob Elie Lieberman/Liebermann (the son of Wolf Ben Pinkas Lieberman and Laje Nuss-Weiss). Jacob was born in Zagrody, Lublin, Poland. Wolf was the son of Pinkas ben Issachar Lieberman and Rozie.

Joe’s paternal grandmother was Rifka/Rebecca Segalovich. Rifka was born in Poland.

Joe’s maternal grandfather was Yusseff/Joseph Manger (the son of Menasha Manger and Freyda). Yussef was a Jewish emigrant from Putilla, Bukovina, Austria.

Joe’s grandparents Yussef and Maly were also the maternal great-great-grandparents of actor Raviv Ullman, thus making Senator Joe Lieberman and Raviv Ullman first cousins, twice removed.

Four people of Jewish heritage have won a major party’s Presidential caucus and/or primary:
*Barry Goldwater (1964, the year he was nominated; Republican; won 7 states; Goldwater also sought the 1960 Republican nomination)
*John Kerry (2004, the year he was nominated; Democratic; won 51 contests)
*Wesley Clark (who sought the 2004 Democratic nomination; won 1 state, Oklahoma; Clark was born to a Jewish father and a non-Jewish mother, and is a practicing Catholic)
*Bernie Sanders (who sought the 2016 Democratic nomination, and is seeking the 2020 Democratic nomination; in 2016, he won 23 contests)

Of the four, only Bernie Sanders is Jewish by religion, and he is the first person of Jewish religion to win a caucus and/or primary for a major American political party’s Presidential nomination (the 2016 New Hampshire primary).

Shapp, Agran, Specter, Karger, and Williamson were/are all Jewish by religion. Bennet and Steyer were raised in mixed-faith households, Bennet with a Jewish mother and Steyer with a Jewish father. Shapp was the first person of Jewish religion to mount a prominent campaign for a major party’s nomination for President of the United States.

Kirsten Gillibrand, a Catholic with a Jewish great-grandfather, also sought the 2020 Democratic nomination.